


My Ordinary Life

by robertstanion



Series: 20 Day Songfic Challenge [5]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Crying, F/M, Hallucinations, Partial Angst, Songfic, driving to California, either way the lyrics are embedded in there, ethan also gets powers from the black and white au, ethan hosts wiggly au, ethan lives au, just altered slightly, mentions of the apotheosis, or inspired by a song
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:09:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26377831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robertstanion/pseuds/robertstanion
Summary: It's the day after Black Friday, and Lex has been clinging on to hope that Ethan was alive, considering Ethan wouldn't tell her. What she hadn't wanted was for him to show up, and to start talking about events that hadn't happened, yet seemed all too familiar to her.-or the one where ethan has to essentially host wiggly in the real world and he sees fire and shit
Relationships: Lex Foster/Ethan Green
Series: 20 Day Songfic Challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859884
Kudos: 3





	My Ordinary Life

**Author's Note:**

> there are mentions of car crashes, there are mentions of fire, there are mentions of explosions, and mentions of abuse
> 
> this fic was also inspired by My Ordinary Life by The Living Tombstone, it is currently my comfort song, and I love it so much. the lyrics are disguised dw

And all of a sudden, there was chaos that couldn’t be controlled. Borders were set in place, orders were rolled out, and none were acknowledged. Bloody footprints stained the pristine floors of the hospital floor as other fled from the scene. It was the end of one of the worst days on Earth, and yet, somehow, it continued to get worse. It wasn’t fair, it never was fair and nor would it ever be. Screams echoed around the halls, and yet nobody seemed to know _why_ they were screaming. The footprints that were stained were frantically being swept away as another loud bang came from the west side of the building. A flash of green followed which seemed to heighten the chaos.

More soldiers ran in the direction of the flash, and none of them seemed to notice him walking in the opposite direction. Things slowed down. He was still the same kid he’d been at 5:30 yesterday. He’d survived, he knew he had, otherwise why would he have been given the offer? The answer was that, if he’d dreamt about the realm, and if he’d died, then he wouldn’t be able to slip back into his boots and trek out of the building.

He wasn’t entirely sure where he was, if he was being perfectly honest. The building wasn’t particularly familiar to him. In fact, he hadn’t seen this building before. He’d been past every building except this one, he was sure. Nothing on the island was so modernised that it was futuristic. It was dull, and decayed, just like the adult population. It was up to the teens to bring justice to the world, to revamp the island, to make it more colourful, to make it a more positive place to live in.

He and his girlfriend went to pride each year. Two bisexual flannel-wearing idiots with a small child situated on his shoulders as she waved the flag and giggled at the mass array of colours that were satisfying to the eye. They felt at home in the chaos of colour that swarmed them. Then the parades died down, the sun went back behind the clouds and the rain started up as it always did. The water around the island would rise, and sometimes it would flood which would add stress to already stressed adults.

No wonder their hair greyed so fast.

Yet he found himself smiling as he flicked his middle fingers to the sky, a smirk growing on his face as he walked. He felt the heat of the fire on the back of his neck and the painful screeches of some other people, and he felt a tingling in his eyes. He rubbed them away, and ignored the unpleasant feeling of a tear falling down his cheek. He hid a sob with a laugh as he walked. They were undeserving of the truth; they were undeserving of him.

He could have sworn he heard someone shouting out his name, but his name felt like it carried the weight of centuries on it. It wasn’t a good name, and he was shamed for it, but what could he do? He grew to love his name eventually, and he tried to bring pride to the bloodline, but his decrease in grades and cigarette addiction didn’t help. He ignored the hate that was thrown at him, catching the words, crumpling them up in his hand and throwing them right back at the enemy. He left the scene, leaving some innocent kid with a bleeding nose, or a broken arm, and most of the time it was worse.

He eventually had to come to a stop as he found doors. He shoved his entire weight against it to get them to open before noticing a keypad beside the doors. He shrugged, realising that the keypad would have been a much better, and more realistic, option, but the doors were open now, so he stepped out of them and proceeded with his journey, knowing where his end goal was. He turned and saw an old school like building, except the plaque above it, like he’d always remembered, did _not_ read “ _Sandworth Elementary,”_ instead reading “ _PEIP – Paranormal Extra-Terrestrial Interdimensional Phenomena, under the rule of Gen. John McNamara. Founded by Gen. Gareth Icacks. 1954 - /.”_ He shrugged again, not bothered by the plaque, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he walked.

From his surroundings, he could tell her trailer wasn’t too far away. Humming a tune to himself, moving his head in rhythm, he headed in that direction. North west. North west to the trailer park. North west was where he had to go, and he wouldn’t stop until he got there. The rain fell down in a heavy quantity, and yet he didn’t seem to mind considering he was now unable to distinguish the rain droplets from the tears that clouded his vision. He _couldn’t_ seem to mind, with his mind fogged and all. Instead of dwelling on what was happening, he flashed a grin and spun around, the long-sleeved shirt around his jacket twirling with him, not acknowledging the tears in any shape or form. He kicked his boot in a puddle and watched as the water sprayed a passing car. In the reflection of the vehicle’s window, he saw a bright flash of orange from behind him, but when he turned, there was no explosion.

He still couldn’t find it weird, so he continued to dance down the street, twirling, humming, carefree. He turned the corner and stopped dancing to the music that played in his head and his head only as he reached the run-down trailer, that still had a light on in the inside. He smiled and took one hand out of his pocket, rocking on his heels as he knocked firmly. Only then did he move his hands up to wipe his tears away. It wasn’t like him crying would matter to her, would it?

He heard her annoyed sigh from inside, but it didn’t matter to him when he saw her at the door. He watched as her eyes widened and a smile spread on her face. He held his arms out to her, to which she jumped into them. He wrapped his arms around her tight and let her bury her face into his neck. Neither pulled away, but he did set her back in the warmth of the caravan instead of the winters air where he stood. He gestured inside and tilted his head. “You think I’m allowed in?” He asked, and she shook her head, the grin not fading.

“Dumbass,” she said as she walked back inside, and was even more relieved when he followed. After the fatal incident that was yesterday’s Black Friday, Lex had managed to survive. With Hannah going non-verbal, she couldn’t find out if Ethan was alive or not, so she had to pray that he was. Another thing that happened yesterday was she managed to be freed from her abusive household, and came the death of her mother. Her father had never been in the picture, so he became a minority in her life, so Ethan filled that spot.

She slid back into the empty space on the couch she’d left, and Ethan sat opposite her at the table, kicking his feet up on to the arm of the couch. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched him, taking in the fact that he was there in her living room like it was nothing. “You’re alive.”

“I sure am,” he said and nodded, biting at the skin around his nail. “I mean, partially, I was in this weird place. I was like…floatin’, babe, and then all of a sudden I wake up in hospital, and I’m treadin’ blood down the halls and I can make explosions?” He asked, but Lex tilted her head back and basically cackled.

“Keeping it simple, I see?”

“What do you mean?”

“You die and gain superpowers or some shit. Eth, this is like a movie. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Hey. I know I’m like…not the _smartest_ kid in the world, but I know what I saw. I saw fire, and anger, and- and there was this _doll_ and there was this guy in all denim and-“

“Take it slow, Ethan, you’re talking bullshit.” She snorted and reached beside her for her mug, taking a sip of her coffee which was going colder than she hoped. She huffed and frowned but didn’t say a word as she set it back down. “You sure have a creative mind, babe. What did Evason always used to say in English? ‘Vision the idea as a plant, feed and water it and let it grow!’”

“Hey!” He said and looked at her, offended slightly, but his smile didn’t fade. He was glad to be safe with her again. “Look, Lex, I’m tellin ya the truth, okay? This guy in denim, he grabbed me and had like a knife against my throat or somethin, but it was easier to let them kill me there than to fight. I asked them who they are, but they just laughed in my face, so I asked if they wanted to kill me and they told me “no.” I mean…they looked like somethin out of a marvel movie just more kid friendly? But they scared me.”

“Everythin’ scares ya, Ethan, it ain’t like you’re the bravest man in Hatchetfield.” She scrunched her nose up to tease him, and again his face twitched, and he shook his head.

“No! They were- look, I offered them the money I was gonna take to the movies for Hannah, and I got it out my pocket, and I offered them money, and then they didn’t laugh, they stopped. Like, it was kinda cool how I held this power over some sort of psycho. And this guy, he leans in real close and he tells me that was what he was tryin to stop. He pushes me to the ground, and there’s this flash, and I just see so many different versions of myself.”

That intrigued Lex. She shifted her body so it faced him and intertwined her fingers within each other and lifted an eyebrow. “So…what do you mean “other versions” of yourself?”

“Different versions, but still,” Ethan said and looked at her. “It happened quickly, and I can’t remember much about it, but there was this one, and it was of…I couldn’t even begin to tell you, but I was with you, and Hannah was cryin, and you were scared, and my eyes were blue!”

“Your eyes _are_ blue.”

“No! Like- bright blue! Glowing blue! Like the Wiggly cult?”

“You knew about that?”

“They were _hardly_ subtle, anyway-“ he said, before continuing. “My eyes were glowin’ blue, and there was this blue… _shit_ that was on my chin and it was like a nosebleed? You kept tellin me everythin to try and turn me back, I think, and I was singin’ to you, but you were scared. There was a bang, and I fell to the ground. I saw a guy with golden hair there, and I think he took care of you and Hannah. But it was weird because I wasn’t the only one singin’. It was like someone had started playing a really _really_ good song on and we all knew the words. You tried to fight me, but I don’t think you were able to match my level of combat.”

“That is weird, considering that I can easily beat you in a fight on a good day.”

“Yeah, exactly! That’s why I was so concerned! And then, when I woke in this hospital, I heard someone ask me if I was like a God, comin back from the dead and all. Some guy in sunglasses right, he told me God could walk, so I hauled myself off the bed and I felt so light and airy. I reached into my pocket, gave ‘em the thirty dollars and walked- well, more like strode, out.”

“And you weren’t drugged?”

“No! Well, at least, I don’t think so. But I felt cool, not like “living in an ice box because that’s the only place I’m safe,” cool, but more like calm and collected. I heard a nurse chasin’ after me, tellin me I’d been sleepin, that I shouldn’t be walkin’, but I was wide awake! I _am_ wide awake, well, I’m tired now, but this was like half an hour ago. I think I flipped her off, and then there was this loud bang, and there was a flash of green. I’m pretty sure I blew up the building to be honest, Lex.”

“I think you’re high, Eth.”

“No. I’m not an easy bake oven, babe, I ain’t _that_ baked. I mean, I was this mornin’ a little after-“

“What?!”

“I think I was at least, otherwise why would I feel so high now?”

“You promised me you wouldn’t get high today! You told me Hannah was your main priority!” She picked up the mug again, holding the handle tighter in her hand, and he noticed, shaking his head quickly. 

“And she was! But I felt so different, my mind was free, that’s only why I said that, now can I _please_ continue?!” He asked, and with a deafening silence that followed, he proceeded with his points. “I tried to look for my car, but it wasn’t there, but I figured it’d be empty of gas anyway, I forgot to top it up this mornin’. Whoops.” He said and smiled, a slight green glow in his eyes which caught Lex’s attention.

She set her mug down again, rising, and walking over to her boyfriend, cupping his chin and peering into his eyes. “You can feel me, right?”

“Yeah…why are you practically looking inside my brain?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he remained eye contact with Lex, and he watched the colour drain from her face ever so slightly.

“So…would you believe it if I told you that I was kinda visited by the guy with the golden hair yesterday? At least…the one I _think_ you’re describing?”

“What?!” He asked and pulled out of her grip, folding in on himself slightly.

“Well, I got into an…incident, yesterday, and there was this soldier. His name was General John McNamara, and he told me everything I needed to know. He told me he was going to find you, but he warned me that there may be some brief alterations…he warned me you’d be different.”

“But babe, I feel the same?” He asked, and she shook her head.

“The realm you were in, it’s called The Black and White. It’s where John is now…he died saving the president, leaving behind his entire taskforce and family. He…was unable to speak to me for longer than quarter of an hour but, he told me that…that nobody, if anybody who survived The Black and White, would be permanently altered…Ethan, _you have superpowers…”_ she whispered the last part and his eyes glinted.

“I’ve been tellin ya I’m special since middle school! I always told ya I’d be a superhero! And now look! Look at the real me! Aww man, we gotta fuckin celebrate, nah you gotta have some of that nice champagne somewhere again, because I wanna celebrate the fact that everyone who doubted me when I was a kid and laughed at me while I was on the floor in pain has been proven wrong!” He jumped up, and Lex laughed at his enthusiasm, looking at him.

“It’s in my room. Be mindful, Hannah’s sleeping.”

* * *

After the reuniting of Lex and Ethan, and with them getting mildly drunk, celebrating Ethan’s new…whatever he had, and possibly something else, Lex lay awake in her boyfriend’s arms, just with her eyes closed. She didn’t want to sleep, frightened that if she did, Ethan would dissolve out of her grasp and she’d never be able to get him back, which lead her to that current moment, where she was lying, staying still, eyes closed, allowing the night to shift into day, allowing the world to pass her by.

She couldn’t help but think of all the other times she nearly lost Ethan, but it wasn’t her fault. All the pills they took together to feel something, to feel _anything._ That time where they both went shopping stoned and they ended up buying some relatively nice clothes, except there was still that part of Ethan that appeared numb, but when he turned up in a crop top and a skirt at her door, she swooned even harder than she had before. She’d grabbed his wrist, tugging him inside, and kissed him. He staggered in, and they almost fell, but it didn’t matter because they were high on acceptance, and they were flying.

She moved his arms more around her waist as she nestled into his chest, continuing to smile, inhaling the smell of his cologne to reassure herself that she was still there, and that she wasn’t imagining his touch. They had the money, well, _she_ had the money from the Wiggly trade; she just needed to get to California, where the future they’d be designing for years would finally come into play. There would be nobody to guide them, nobody to stop them, and laying there, she felt a spark of fear crawl up her spine, and a severe amount of guilt, but she knew she’d be free as soon as they were out of the island.

* * *

It was later that day when they set off, and Ethan shut the door, with Hannah in the back, playing with her toy plushie spider. Lex sighed contently and looked over at her boyfriend, leaning against the car door. “You’re real special to me, Eth,” she said out of nowhere, and he laughed, and he smiled, and he shook his head.

“That wasn’t spontaneous at all, Lex.” He rolled his eyes and put the keys in the car, starting it up. He sent a quick text to his uncle, telling him where he was, and that he was safe, and that he’d come back to visit eventually. He also gave permission for him to start telling stories about him in his lessons, which is something he hadn’t allowed Hidgens to do yet.

Lex laughed then, shifting in her hoodie, a blanket on her lap as she looked at him. “You’re so _humble,_ Ethan.” She said, and she watched his cheeks flush a soft red as they began to drive away. “You’re blushing.”

“No, I’m not.” Ethan said, turning to focus his eyes on the road, flicking on some shitty old rock CD he had already playing in the car that they both seemed to thoroughly enjoy. The music appeared to down everything out, as they let themselves get lost in the notes. He zoned out, and yet remained stable enough to drive. In the corners of his eyes, he could see the fire that sprung up to the right of him, the soft green glow from the explosions of another car that collided head on. He swallowed, beginning to smile, and didn’t have enough time to try and bite back tears before he felt one dribble down his face. Somewhere muffled, he heard Lex ask him if he was okay, and he lied, telling her that he was.

He knew he wasn’t. He knew he wasn’t; he knew whatever “The Black and White” was had caused permanent damage to him. He could feel Lex’s eyes linger on him before she turned back to the window. He lied to her, and he could tell she felt mislead by him. Everything had changed, everything was changing, and nobody else could see that. He was laying out his lies and love on a silver platter for Lex to eat it up just so _he_ felt better about himself, but he couldn’t admit the truth to himself, so how could he tell her?

The voice in the back of his mind was calling him a god. He couldn’t be. _He_ was Ethan Green, aged 19, who smoked weed, who was a high school dropout. What was special about that? He did the bare minimum by being a good boyfriend to Lex, and a good brother figure to Hannah. He ensured they were happy and safe, and that was it, wasn’t it? He did everything for them, giving up anything if it meant he could provide their happiness. It made everything feel upside down. Instead of him being dead, six feet under, he was six feet off the ground.

Another tear hit his cheek, and another loud bang followed, another nauseating green flash that accompanied it. It didn’t matter if he was the one causing the explosions, or whether he was the one doing the killing either, because nobody else seemed to notice the mistakes he was creating. He was doing everything he could, making as much money as he could to get out of Hatchetfield. That had always been his one purpose. He hoped that, after leaving Hatchetfield, he’d be able to leave whatever sick power he had behind, but it appeared it hadn’t worked. He didn’t care, though, because what was happening to him was fake.

But people were dying, and he was acting like someone of a higher power, and people blended together into one mass crowd of flourishing colour, and, just like pride, he knew he’d be lost without the love and determination of this group.   
  
He felt Lex’s hand on his shoulder which caused him to pull over. Her touch was healing, in a way. It settled his mind and bought him back to reality. He looked out the window. The car crash hadn’t happened, there was no blood, there was no fire, but he feared, with the knowledge he now had, he’d become too powerful. Maybe, because of it, it was why he had a sudden instinct to pull away from Lex, fearing he was untouchable, and that consequences would follow if he touched her.

Was this an illusion? Was there a real Ethan Green? He couldn’t tell. He could taste the aftermath of the champagne on his tongue, and he was hurting, thinking of how he was cursed with this eternal illness that pulled him apart, and it was even worse considering he didn’t do pain. He always hid it, but it broke him inside. Now, with this sudden dilemma in his life, he had to find a way to steer around the brick wall he’d hit with his car.

They decided to leave the trip there, and do the last stretch tomorrow. They grabbed the tent, setting it up nearby, and it wasn’t long before both Hannah and Lex were clean out. It was him who remained awake, cuddling Lex close to him as he stared at the thin, blue plastic that shielded them from the rest of the world. He was the one losing sleep, as he watched the green fire starting to lick at the thin sheet, and he prayed he wasn’t losing his mind.

There wasn’t any thrill to their death, but he knew there’d be no stress behind it. He’d be the one to leave everyone he’d ever loved behind, and they wouldn’t need to worry about it. He closed his eyes as he heard the crackling move behind him, no explosion to follow, but the green brightened in his vision. He felt that the world was below him, and that he was so high up that there wouldn’t be a chance to come back down, to redeem himself. He felt himself being told that he was close to perfect, a divine example of a person, but he hated it. He found himself leaning into the touch on the other side, slowly letting go, as he felt fear for the very last time.

But when he awoke the next morning, and the fire was gone, and Lex was still curled around him, he realised he had a chance to make things right… _his_ second chance. A second chance to live an ordinary life.

**Author's Note:**

> yes that was a henry hidgens reference at the end stfu like uncle like nephew ig
> 
> anyways, comments and kudos are appreciated!! thank you for reading!!!
> 
> and for the songfic challenge:
> 
> Day 1: Married In Vegas - McNamander  
> Day 2: Share Your Address - McNamander  
> Day 3: Mr Loverman - McNamander  
> Day 4: Miss You - McNamander  
> Day 5: My Ordinary Life - Lexthan


End file.
